The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

I started writing for this blog in 2009. With monthly postings, there is quite a bit of content related to photography, travel, and public lands for you to explore, including at least two articles for each of the 63 national parks. Here are a few starting points.

Peak experiences in parks. Each journey in nature is unique, however there are some moments more unique of others, when I was priviledged to witness a awesome and rare moment that transcends the location. Each of them brough specific photography challenges.

• Yosemite National Park: Moonbows, the Meadow Fire, Horsetail Falls
• The Great Smoky Mountains synchronous fireflies
• The aurora in Alaska (including Denali and Gates of the Arctic)
• The lava ocean entry in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
• The solar eclipses of May 20, 2012 in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, August 21, 2017 in Grand Teton National Park, and October 14, 2023 in Great Basin National Park
• The Grand Canyon by Raft

New national parks. The decade 2005-2016 saw a single new national park, but we saw the establishment of four from 2017 to 2020. I tried to travel there early and reported about my first impressions in multi-part articles.

• Gateway Arch National Park
• Indiana Dunes National Park
• White Sands National Park
• New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

Out of the beaten path in popular parks. You can still make surprising discoveries and beat the crowds even in the most well-trodden parks.

• Yosemite Unseen: Ribbon Fall, Fern Ledge, Diving Board, Indian Arch and North Dome, Mount Hoffman, Mount Conness Loop
• Three great hikes and a drive in Jedediah Smith Redwoods
• Fairyland: Bryce Canyons’s overlooked view and trail
• Least visited in Mesa Verde: a new angle on Square Tower House
• Photographer’s guide to Havasu Canyon: now and then
• Zion Canyons: Pine Creek Canyon, The Subway from the top
• Death Valley: Close call at the Ibex Dunes, Alternative icons
• Accessible wildness: Glacier National Park’s North Fork
• Hiking Mauna Loa Summit via Observatory Trail

Lesser known national parks. The national park system features a lot of hidden gems which are equally as interesting as the famous parks. For a quick overview, see Top Ten Less Crowded National Parks.

• North Cascades National Park Service Complex: Quick guide to roadside photography, Alpine larch at night
• Saguaro National Park: Five days and $314
• Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch
• Great Sand Dunes National Park: Medano Pass Road, Mount Herard
• Voyageurs National Park: How to visit by boat, Anderson Bay
• A summer visit to Dry Tortugas National Park
• Wrangell-St Elias National Park: Nabesna Road and Skookum Volcano, Stumbling into Alaska’s mining past, Bonanza Mine Trail
• Gates of the Arctic National Park via Anaktuvuk Pass
• The crux: Visiting Kobuk Valley National Park
• National Park of American Samoa: Tuitula, The Ultimate Guide to Ofu Island

Photography location information. While the previous articles often mention photography to some degree, I’ve also written abundantly and specifically about photographing the national parks. For starters, the series National Parks Photo Spots highlighted one favorite location in each of the first 59 national parks, concluding with Pinnacles National Park: High Peaks Trail North. More recent writings include:

• Five Spots for Photographing Lassen Peak
• Four Death Valley midday images explained
• The Southwest under changing moon phases
• Five ways to photograph the Zion Narrows without people
• Guide to hiking and photographing Zion’s Subway
• Three unamed iconic rocks in Joshua Tree National Park
• Photographing waterfalls in Whiteoak Canyon, the scenic gem of Shenandoah National Park
• Photographing Cataloochee, the quieter side of the Great Smoky Mountains/
• Photographing fall foliage in Glacier National Park
• Photographing fall foliage in Sequoia National Park

If the two last items were of interest, Guide to fall foliage in the national parks surveys all the national parks with fall foliage.

National Park Service historic publications. Examining publications issued over a century reveals the evolution of the national parks and also of print design.

• The National Parks Portfolio: part 1, part 2
• National Park Service Visitor Guides: A Brief History, Looking in, Maps, National Park Service Emblems, Park Anniversaries

Bonus: National monuments. If even the lesser visited parks feel too crowded, developed or regulated, then there are plenty of other public lands that await your exploration. The national monuments are often a superb choice. For an introduction, start with Visiting America’s National Monuments, the Parks Less Traveled.

• Berryessa Snow Mountain Mational Monument, Northern California’s mysterious new park
• Two peaks in San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
• Palms to snow in Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument
• Mojave Trails National Monument highlights
• Afton Canyon, the unknown Grand Canyon of the Mojave
• Undeveloped in California: Castle Mountains National Monument
• Nevada’s Little Finland
• The forgotten rim of the Grand Canyon
• The White Pocket, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
• The Third Wave
• Wonders stripped of protections in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
• Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument: Maine newly preserved backwoods